Architecture and methods for traffic management by tunneling in  hierarchical cellular networks

ABSTRACT

A hierarchical cellular network system having a core and comprising a plurality of nodes, wherein at least one node comprises a relay; and wherein at least one relay includes: a tunneling sub-system; a backhauling link subsystem interfacing between the tunneling subsystem and a node which is closer to the core than the relay; and a base station subsystem, interfacing between the tunneling subsystem and a mobile station or a node which is further from the core than the relay, wherein the tunneling subsystem is operative to perform the following, on data arriving from a base station subsystem belonging to another node from among the plurality of nodes: collecting the data; and encapsulating the results to be sent in an individual session into packets and sending the packets to the Backhauling Link Subsystem.

REFERENCE TO CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from U.S. provisional application No.61/417,049, entitled “Architecture and Methods for Traffic Management byTunneling in Hierarchical Cellular Networks”, filed Nov. 24, 2010.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to communication systems andmore particularly to mobile communication systems.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Many cellular communication networks are known, e.g. hierarchical mobilesystems as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,317 to Mahany et al and U.S.Pat. No. 5,729,826 to Gavrilovich.

Some varieties of conventional tunneling are described in Wikipedia'sentry on “tunneling protocol”.

Some varieties of conventional encapsulation are described inWikipedia's entry on encapsulation (networking).

LTE and Wimax are known standards for mobile communication networks.

The disclosures of all publications and patent documents mentioned inthe specification, and of the publications and patent documents citedtherein directly or indirectly, are hereby incorporated by reference.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the present invention seek to provide anarchitecture in which the relay manager and encapsulation engine may belocated at the core and, as alternatives, as application server or asS1-tunneling server.

Certain embodiments of the present invention seek to provide tunnelingwhich supports differentiation of a network control message from user'sdata messages e.g. by using GPRS tunneling particularly designed forcellular phones. Typically, such tunneling supports rapid change in theanchoring point of the mobile device which is being tunneled to.

Certain embodiments of the present invention seek to provideencapsulation which is operative to deal with dynamic topology and/ortemporary disconnections.

In accordance with an aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter,there is provided a hierarchical cellular system defining a hierarchiceUTRAN tree, the system including a hierarchical cellular networkincluding nodes; and a Tunneling Subsystem inside each relay operativeto perform encapsulation and de-capsulation inside each relay located atlayers lower than the relay, of a hierarchic tree.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is provided a system comprising a Tunneling Server as partof the Core Segment of the network.

In accordance with an aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter,there is provided a hierarchical cellular system defining a hierarchiceUTRAN tree, the system including conventional elements of ahierarchical cellular network; and a Tunneling Server as part of theCore Segment of the network.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is provided a system wherein at least a portion of thetunneling server functionality is located as a standard ApplicationServer interfacing the Core segment, connecting to the core by the SGiinterface.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is further provided a system wherein at least a portion ofthe tunneling server functionality is located in a distributed way atthe S1 interface between at least some eNBs and the Core Segment.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided a system wherein at least aportion of the tunneling server functionality is located in adistributed way at the S1 interface between all eNBs and the CoreSegment.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided a system wherein all of thetunneling server functionality is located in a distributed way at the S1interface between at least some eNBs and the Core Segment.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided a system wherein all of thetunneling server functionality is located in a distributed way at the S1interface between all eNBs and the Core Segment.

In accordance with an aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter,there is yet further provided an apparatus for data transmission betweentwo mobile stations at a hierarchical cellular network or between MS ofa hierarchical cellular network and any other user within the network oroutside it, including a Tunneling Subsystem within the mobile, 4G (e.g.)base station (MBS e.g. MeNB), and a Tunneling Server at the CoreNetwork.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein the tunnelingsubsystem is at the Radio Access Network/eUTRAN.

In accordance with an aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter,there is yet further provided a mobile base station (MBS) genericarchitecture including at least some of a Backhauling Link Subsystem,Base-Station Subsystem, and between them, a Tunneling Subsystem. Thebackhauling link subsystem typically comprises a radio link thatconnects an mobile base station (MBS) to a base station or other mobilebase station (MBS). For example the backhauling link subsystem maycomprise an LTE modem

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein the TunnelingSubsystem comprises an 4G mobile base station (MeNB) specificimplementation for LTE.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein the TunnelingSubsystem may provide some or all of the following functionalities:collection, analysis, sorting, queuing, partitioning and encapsulation.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus comprising anarchitecture for integrating the Tunneling capability at the CoreSegment as Tunneling Application Server (centralistic).

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus comprising adistributed architecture for integrating the Tunneling capability at theRadio Access Network characterized in that, if the destination islocated at the same sub-tree, an X2 distributed approach is employed.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein the X2distributed approach is employed if the source and destination havejoint mobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBS e.g. MeNB) at higher layersthan themselves.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus comprising adistributed architecture for integrating the Tunneling capability at theRadio Access Network as a post-4G base station (eNB) entity apparent ateach relevant eNB.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein the relevant4G base station (eNB) comprises an 4G base station (eNB) where 4G mobilebase station (MeNB) are planned to be served.

In accordance with an aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter,there is yet further provided a Tunneling Server implementing aTunneling Application Server including an Application Server interfacingthe LTE core using the standard GSi interface, including anEncapsulation Engine and a Virtual Radio Access Network Manager.

In accordance with an aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter,there is yet further provided a Virtual Radio Access Network Managerapplicable to a cellular network other than an LTE.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein the virtualRadio Access Network manager is operative to imitate 4G (optionally)base station and to interface the LTE core at the standard eNB-to-Corelinks.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein the virtualRadio Access Network manager is operative to interface the LTE core atat least one of the following: S1&X2 for LTE applications, Iub for 3Gapplications, Abis for GSM applications.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein the VirtualRadio Access Network Manager is operative such that any type of data tobe inserted to the LTE cellular network can be inserted using virtualMS/mobile communication device (UE) and virtual BS/eNB.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein the VirtualRadio Access Network Manager reflects/imitates the 4G mobile basestation (MeNB) decapsulated transmission as virtual 4G base station(eNB) to the LTE Core.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein interfacesbetween the Virtual Radio Access Network Manager and the LTE Core arebased on at least one of S1-U and S1-MME.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein theEncapsulation Engine includes at least one functionality of theEncapsulation Subsystem of the mobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBS e.g.MeNB).

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein theEncapsulation Engine interfaces a P-GW (PDN-GW) element of the LTE core.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein theEncapsulation Engine includes a multi-packet payload recursive IPencapsulation functionality.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein X2 may betunneled as in S1.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein, in order toshorten the latency of X2-tunneled packets (distributed approach), thetunneling subsystem decapsulates every encapsulated packet and detectsX2 packets addressed to at least one of itself and a descendant thereof.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein the mobilebase station (MBS) may have the topology tree of all network elementsunderneath it.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein the analysisprocess includes a detection mechanism to find X2 messages addressed toat least one of a current mobile base station (MBS) and at least onedescendant thereof.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein an S1 framercomprises a X2 framer.

In accordance with an aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter,there is yet further provided a S1 Tunneling Server located between theeNBs and the LTE Core including at least one of an mobile base station(MBS)s Filter for detecting and filtering any packets arriving frommobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBS e.g. MeNB) at the S1 stream; amobile base station (MBS) Combiner to add Encapsulated S1 packets to thebasic S1 stream; and a Virtual Radio Access Network Manager andTunneling Subsystem.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus including both Serverand S1 Tunneling Server wherein each encapsulated transmission is sentto one or both of these.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus wherein decisions rewhere each encapsulated transmission is sent depends on at least one ofthe following parameters: user priority, required latency, user type,service type.

In accordance with an aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter,there is yet further provided a Virtual Core Manager entity thatimitates Core functionalities and can interface at least one of a realRadio Access Network/eUTRAN or real Core/LTE Core.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus comprising “virtualMME” capability that reflects all control and mobility managementmessages arriving at at least one of the Tunneling Application Server orto S1 Tunneling Server, to the actual real MME using the standardMME-to-MME LTE interface.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided an apparatus comprising anarchitecture for integrating the Tunneling capability at the CoreSegment as S1/X2 Tunneling Server (centralistic).

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided a cellular architecture.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided a system wherein each mobilecommunicator in the hierarchical network comprises a telephone.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided a system wherein the mobilecommunicator comprises a cellular telephone.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided a system wherein the networkoperates using an LTE standard.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided a system wherein the networkoperates using a WIMAX standard.

In accordance with an aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter,there is yet further provided a method for manufacturing any of thesystems shown and described herein.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided a method for operating or usingany of the systems shown and described herein.

In accordance with an embodiment of the presently disclosed subjectmatter, there is yet further provided a computer program product,comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable programcode embodied therein, the computer readable program code adapted to beexecuted to implement any of the methods shown and described herein.

The embodiments shown and described herein are particularly useful inconjunction with vehicle fleets in which vehicles, such as busses ortrains or taxis, are equipped with mobile base-stations which mayfunction as relays, and/or mobile telephones or other cellularcommunication devices.

For example, in rural areas where sole reliance on fixed cellularbase-station coverage limits the capacity of mobile stations at longranges, mobile base stations that are installed on transportable mobileplatforms e.g. busses, trains, taxis can enable high data-rateapplications such as web-browsing, video-streaming, and can also be usedas relays between other mobile base stations and fixed base stations. Inaddition, mobile base stations as described herein can be installedon-board airplanes to enable passengers to communicate with a fixedcellular infrastructure using their own cellular phones. Finally, if amass attended event is expected or has occurred, it may be desired tosend a fleet of mobile base-stations to the location of that event forthe duration of the event. For example, event organizers, e.g. culturalor sports event organizers, may own or hire such a fleet which may besent on one occasion to a first city in which a massively attendedpopular music concert or rally is being held and on another occasion toa location in which Olympics or another mass-attended sports event isplanned.

In a typical cellular telephone system, e.g. as depicted in prior artFIG. 1, an area is divided into cells where each cell has a serving BS.An SM moving in such a cellular network communicates by radio with thebest BS. The BSs communicate with the core network and with each otherby either using a direct cable, or by using point-to-point microwave.

Several procedures are common to all cellular telephone systems:

Handover is the procedure that runs when the SM moves between cellswhile it is in service.

Cell selection is the procedure that selects the best BS to link to.

A mobile ad-hoc network (MANET), e.g. as depicted in FIG. 2, is a wellstudied concept in prior art. MANET is defined as an autonomous systemof mobile routes, their associated hosts being connected by wirelesslinks, the union of which forms an arbitrary graph. Such networks havebeen introduced with little degree of success, due to many technical andorganizational challenges among delays, power consumption andscalability.

A hierarchical mobile system, e.g. as depicted in FIG. 3, has tworadio-interface serving entities; BS and RA. The BSs are static basestations and the RAs are moving base stations comprising a radiointerface for a backhauling interface, and a base-station as a front endto the user. Due to dynamics in the hierarchical mobile system, it isdifficult to use a directional antenna; therefore there is a need to usean omni antenna. The user can connect to a BS or to a RA using the samestandard interface and is transparent to the kind that it is connectedto.

In FIG. 3, SMs are numbered 03, 06, 07, 11 and 12. The RAs are numbered02, 05 and 09. The BSs are numbered 01, 08 and 10. The core is numbered4.

SM12 links to BS10, BS08 and RA09, its best link is to BS10 andtherefore it has an active link to the BS10 and connects to the corethrough BS10. SM11 links to RA09 BS08 and BS10, its best link is to BS08and therefore it has an active link to BS08. SMO3 links to SB10, SB08and RA09 its best link is to RA09 and therefore it has active link toRA09. SMO6 links to RA09, RA05, RA02 and BS01 its best link is to RA09and therefore it has active link to RA09. SMO7 links to RA09, RA05, RA02and BS01 its best link is to RA05 and therefore it has active link toRA05.

RA02 links to RA09, BS01 its best link is to BS01 and therefore it hasactive link to BS01. RA09 links to RA02, BS01 and BS08 its best link isto BS08 and therefore it has active link to BS08. RA05 links to RA02,BS01 and BS08 its best link is to BS02 and therefore it has active linkto BS02.

Some or all of the following may be provided:

Apparatus for data transmission between two mobile stations at ahierarchical cellular network or between MS of a hierarchical cellularnetwork and any other user within the network or outside it: TunnelingSubsystem within the mobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBS e.g. MeNB) e.g.at the Radio Access Network/eUTRAN, and a Tunneling Server at the CoreNetwork.

mobile base station (MBS) generic architecture e.g. having BackhaulingLink Subsystem, Base-Station Subsystem and between them the TunnelingSubsystem e.g. as shown at FIG. 9 a, and, for an 4G mobile base station(MeNB) specific implementation for LTE, in FIG. 14.

The Tunneling Subsystem may include some or all of the building blocksshown in FIG. 9 b, including some or all of collection, analysis,sorting, queuing, partitioning and encapsulation.

Architectures for integrating the Tunneling capability at the CoreSegment include a Tunneling Application Server (centralistic); or aS1/X2 Tunneling Server (centralistic);

Distributed architectures for integrating the Tunneling capability atthe Radio Access Network include:

if the destination is located at the same sub-tree (if the source anddestination have joint mobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBS e.g. MeNB) athigher layers than themselves), an X2 distributed approach as describedherein);

a post-4G base station (eNB) entity apparent at each relevant eNB, where“relevant” refers to where 4G mobile base station (MeNB) are planned tobe served;

Tunneling Server implementation as Application Server (TunnelingApplication Server) interfacing the LTE core using the standard GSiinterface, including and Encapsulation Engine and Virtual Radio AccessNetwork Manager.

A Virtual Radio Access Network Manager is applicable to any suitablecellular network, such as but not limited to LTE. It imitates a 4G(optionally) base station and interfaces the LTE core at the standardeNB-to-Core links (e.g. S1&X2 for LTE, Iub for 3G, Abis for GSM, etc.).Using this entity, any type of data to be inserted to the LTE cellularnetwork can be inserted using virtual MS/mobile communication device(UE) and virtual BS/eNB. In this case, the Virtual Radio Access NetworkManager reflects/imitates the 4G mobile base station (MeNB) decapsulatedtransmission as virtual 4G base station to the LTE Core. FIG. 13 showsmore detailed interfaces between the Virtual Radio Access Network (RAN)Manager and the LTE Core using S1-U (611) and S1-MME (610).

The Encapsulation Engine may be similar to the Encapsulation Subsystemof the mobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBS e.g. MeNB). FIG. 13 showsthat this Engine interfaces the P-GW (PDN-GW) element of the LTE core.

The encapsulation may include multi-packet payload recursive IPencapsulation as described in FIG. 11.

X2 may be tunneled as in S1 e.g. as described herein. In order toshorten the latency of X2-tunneled packets (distributed approach), thetunneling subsystem may unfold (decapsulate) every encapsulated packetand may detect X2 packets addressed to it or to any of its descendants.To facilitate this, the mobile base station (MBS) may have the topologytree of all network elements underneath it. FIG. 9 b may be updated inorder to take into account X2 tunneling: the Analysis process may have adetection mechanism to find X2 messages addressed to the current mobilebase station (MBS) or to any of its descendants; and the S1 framer(element 211 b) may then comprise a X2 framer. 212 b/211 b may bedivided to two paths: one for S1 and the other for X2. FIG. 13 may alsobe updated to include X2 tunneling to layer-0. The Virtual Radio AccessNetwork Manager may have X2 connection of its virtual eNBs to thelayer-0 X2 “cloud” of the real static eNBs. For any X2 messagesaddressed to any lower layers, the X2 tunneling may be the same as S1tunneling.

A S1 Tunneling Server located between the eNBs and the LTE Core mayinclude some or all of the internal blocks in FIG. 12 b:

mobile base station (MBS)s Filter for detecting and filtering anypackets arrive from mobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBS e.g. MeNB) atthe S1 stream.

MBS Combiner to add Encapsulated S1 packets to the basic S1 stream,and/or

Virtual Radio Access NetworkManager and Tunneling Subsystem typicallyhaving the functionality described for the previous architecture.

Detailed interfaces between the S1 Tunneling Server and the LTE Core maybe as depicted in FIG. 15. It relays the S1-MME messages without anychange to the MME. However the S1-U packets are processed using theabovementioned internal blocks to perform the Tunneling capability.

Combined architecture includes both a Tunneling Application Server andan S1 Tunneling Server. Each encapsulated transmission is sent to one orboth of these, depending on suitable parameters such as but not limitedto user priority, required latency, user type, service type.

A Virtual Core Manager entity imitates Core functionalities and caninterface real Radio Access Network/eUTRAN or real Core/LTE Core. Thisentity has, e.g. for LTE, “virtual MME” capability that reflects allcontrol and mobility management messages arriving the TunnelingApplication Server or to S1 Tunneling Server, to the actual real MMEusing the standard MME-to-MME LTE interface.

It is appreciated that with regard to the s1 framer, the s1 framer mayoperate as a proxy of the core side for the link between the basestation subsystem and the core. The interfaces may for example includeS1-U, S1-MME, and X2. The s1 framer thus may function as a “Virtual CoreInterface” vis a vis the Virtual Radio Access Network Manager located atthe Server side.

Also provided is a computer program product, comprising a computerusable medium or computer readable storage medium, typically tangible,having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computerreadable program code adapted to be executed to implement any or all ofthe methods shown and described herein. It is appreciated that any orall of the computational steps shown and described herein may becomputer-implemented. The operations in accordance with the teachingsherein may be performed by a computer specially constructed for thedesired purposes or by a general purpose computer specially configuredfor the desired purpose by a computer program stored in a computerreadable storage medium.

Any suitable processor, display and input means may be used to process,display e.g. on a computer screen or other computer output device,store, and accept information such as information used by or generatedby any of the methods and apparatus shown and described herein; theabove processor, display and input means including computer programs, inaccordance with some or all of the embodiments of the present invention.Any or all functionalities of the invention shown and described hereinmay be performed by a conventional personal computer processor,workstation or other programmable device or computer or electroniccomputing device, either general-purpose or specifically constructed,used for processing; a computer display screen and/or printer and/orspeaker for displaying; machine-readable memory such as optical disks,CDROMs, magnetic-optical discs or other discs; RAMs, ROMs, EPROMs,EEPROMs, magnetic or optical or other cards, for storing, and keyboardor mouse for accepting. The term “process” as used above is intended toinclude any type of computation or manipulation or transformation ofdata represented as physical, e.g. electronic, phenomena which may occuror reside e.g. within registers and/or memories of a computer. The termprocessor includes a single processing unit or a plurality ofdistributed or remote such units.

The above devices may communicate via any conventional wired or wirelessdigital communication means, e.g. via a wired or cellular telephonenetwork or a computer network such as the Internet.

The apparatus of the present invention may include, according to certainembodiments of the invention, machine readable memory containing orotherwise storing a program of instructions which, when executed by themachine, implements some or all of the apparatus, methods, features andfunctionalities of the invention shown and described herein.Alternatively or in addition, the apparatus of the present invention mayinclude, according to certain embodiments of the invention, a program asabove which may be written in any conventional programming language, andoptionally a machine for executing the program such as but not limitedto a general purpose computer which may optionally be configured oractivated in accordance with the teachings of the present invention. Anyof the teachings incorporated herein may wherever suitable operate onsignals representative of physical objects or substances.

The embodiments referred to above, and other embodiments, are describedin detail in the next section.

Any trademark occurring in the text or drawings is the property of itsowner and occurs herein merely to explain or illustrate one example ofhow an embodiment of the invention may be implemented.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the followingdiscussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specificationdiscussions, utilizing terms such as, “operating”, “processing”,“computing”, “selecting”, “generating”, or the like, refer to the actionand/or processes of a computer or computing system, or processor orsimilar electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transformdata represented as physical, such as electronic, quantities within thecomputing system's registers and/or memories, into other data similarlyrepresented as physical quantities within the computing system'smemories, registers or other such information storage, transmission ordisplay devices. The term “computer” should be broadly construed tocover any kind of electronic device with data processing capabilities,including, by way of non-limiting example, personal computers, servers,computing system, communication devices, processors (e.g. digital signalprocessor (DSP), microcontrollers, field programmable gate array (FPGA),application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc.) and otherelectronic computing devices.

The present invention may be described, merely for clarity, in terms ofterminology specific to particular programming languages, operatingsystems, browsers, system versions, individual products, and the like.It will be appreciated that this terminology is intended to conveygeneral principles of operation clearly and briefly, by way of example,and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to anyparticular programming language, operating system, browser, systemversion, or individual product.

Elements separately listed herein need not be distinct components andalternatively may be the same structure.

Any suitable input device, such as but not limited to a sensor, may beused to generate or otherwise provide information received by theapparatus and methods shown and described herein. Any suitable outputdevice or display may be used to display or output information generatedby the apparatus and methods shown and described herein. Any suitableprocessor may be employed to compute or generate information asdescribed herein e.g. by providing one or more modules in the processorto perform functionalities described herein. Any suitable computerizeddata storage e.g. computer memory may be used to store informationreceived by or generated by the systems shown and described herein.Functionalities shown and described herein may be divided between aserver computer and a plurality of client computers. These or any othercomputerized components shown and described herein may communicatebetween themselves via a suitable computer network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the present invention relate to architecture anddata transmission methods for use in hierarchal cellular networks.

A classical cellular network consists of Core segment and Radio AccessNetwork (RAN). The Radio Access Network is comprised of base stations(BS) and mobile stations (MS). Each of the MS is typically connected toone of the BS.

Hierarchal cellular network (FIG. 1) is comprised of classical cellularnetwork, however the Radio Access Network segment enables directconnection between Base Stations so that one BS is capable of relayingthe traffic of the other BS to the Core segment or to other BS in higherlayer that is connected to the Core segment, etc.).

IP encapsulation, also referred as Tunneling, is a well known techniquefor Mobile IP (MIP) cases that enables remote control and mobilitymanagement for mobile scenarios apparent at IP networks. Tunneling is atechnique used when a Mobile Node is registering in a Foreign (remote)Network which assigns to it a new local IP address. In such cases, theHome Network needs to reroute all the packets assigned to the MobileNode to the Foreign Network. Tunneling is a technique for realizing thereroute need in a way of defining Home and Foreign Agents thatencapsulates all the traffic that passes from the Home Network to theMobile Node by adding additional IP header over the original IP packets.

Multi-layer hierarchical dynamic cellular networks pose difficulties fortraffic flow and management (i.e. the multi protocol-layers handling.).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Prior art FIG. 1 is a semi-pictorial diagram of a conventional cellularsystem.

Prior art FIG. 2 is a semi-pictorial diagram of a mobile ad-hoc networksystem.

Prior art FIG. 3 is a semi-pictorial diagram of an n-level hierarchicalcellular system of the invention.

Prior art FIGS. 4A-4B are simplified block diagram illustrations of a2-tier hierarchical system as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,826.

Prior art FIG. 5 is a simplified block diagram illustration of a 2-tierhierarchical LAN as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,317.

Prior art FIGS. 6A-6B are semi-pictorial diagrams of an n-tierhierarchical in-band multi-hop cellular network, using SM as abackhauling device.

FIG. 7 is a semi-pictorial diagram of an N-tier hierarchical radio-linkcellular system network constructed and operative in accordance withcertain embodiments of the present invention, where N may be more than2.

FIGS. 8, 9A-9B, 10-11, 12A-12B, and 13-15 illustrate Architecture andMethods for Traffic Management by Tunneling in Hierarchical CellularNetworks which may be used stand-alone or to modify the apparatus ofFIGS. 1-7 or the apparatus described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,826, or theapparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,317, or the apparatus described inco-pending Published PCT Patent Application WO/2011/092698, entitled“Cellular Communication System With Moving Base Stations And Methods AndApparatus Useful In Conjunction Therewith”, and apparatus useful inconjunction therewith, in accordance with certain embodiments. Theembodiments illustrated in these Figs. may be used in conjunction withany of the systems and functionalities shown in FIGS. 1-7 separately orin any combination.

FIGS. 16A-16C illustrate an embodiment of the invention which may beuseful in conjunction with the apparatus of co-pending Published PCTPatent Application WO/2011/092698, entitled “Cellular CommunicationSystem With Moving Base Stations And Methods And Apparatus Useful InConjunction Therewith”.

FIGS. 17A-17B, taken together, are tables of terms used herein.

FIG. 18 is a semi-pictorial diagram of a virtual base station server(vBServ) which may be added to an LTE or other suitable cellular corenetwork

Computational components described and illustrated herein can beimplemented in various forms, for example, as hardware circuits such asbut not limited to custom VLSI circuits or gate arrays or programmablehardware devices such as but not limited to FPGAs, or as softwareprogram code stored on at least one intangible computer readable mediumand executable by at least one processor, or any suitable combinationthereof. A specific functional component may be formed by one particularsequence of software code, or by a plurality of such, which collectivelyact or behave or act as described herein with reference to thefunctional component in question. For example, the component may bedistributed over several code sequences such as but not limited toobjects, procedures, functions, routines and programs and may originatefrom several computer files which typically operate synergistically.

Data can be stored on one or more intangible computer readable mediastored at one or more different locations, different network nodes ordifferent storage devices at a single node or location.

It is appreciated that any computer data storage technology, includingany type of storage or memory and any type of computer components andrecording media that retain digital data used for computing for aninterval of time, and any time of information retention technology, maybe used to store the various data provided and employed herein. Suitablecomputer data storage or information retention apparatus may includeapparatus which is primary, secondary, tertiary or off-line; which is ofany type or level or amount or category of volatility, differentiation,mutability, accessibility, addressability, capacity, performance andenergy use; and which is based on any suitable technologies such assemiconductor, magnetic, optical, paper and others.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS

The terms used herein, including but not limited to the following terms,may be construed either in accordance with any definition thereofappearing in the prior art literature or in accordance with thespecification or drawings, or as follows:

active link: If nodes are actually transferring data between them, thelink between them is termed an “active link”. In some technologies e.g.4G, a link is sometimes established as an active link in advance i.e.before it is actually needed to transfer data.

base station: The term “base station”, which may be mobile orstationary, is intended to include, for example, a cellular base stationsuch as but not limited to a 2G, 3G, 4G, or mobile Wimax cellular basestation, as well as a wireless access point such as but not limited to aWiFi, Bluetooth or WiMax access point.

cellular: The term “cellular” is intended to include WiFi and othertechnologies which have a single cell i.e. access point. It isappreciated that access points may be interconnected outside the scopeof the cellular network, e.g. via ADSL.

connected: Two network nodes are “connected” if they are capable oftransferring data between them, e.g. over a wired or wireless link.

core: a switching functionality which activates connections between,ultimately, mobile communication devices. It is appreciated that thecore may be co-located with a base station e.g. if the base station isan access point.

core segment: same as “core”

Decapsulation: the inverse operation to encapsulating

downlink: link from core toward mobile communication device i.e. a linkin a sequence or route (also termed downlink sequence or down-route) ofone or more links connecting the core to the device.

encapsulation: generally refers to “covering” a message with anadditional header such that the information in the message other thanthe header (such as a payload to be sent between two nodes in acommunication network plus an original header indicating said two nodes)becomes the payload hence is not apparent until the additional headerhas been decapsulated. For example, node A wants to send a payload tonode B. Node A sends the payload to node C which is en route to node B.However, node C does not know how to reach node B hence sends thepayload (encapsulated with an additional header which states that thedestination is D; the payload corresponding to the additional headerhence includes the payload from A to B plus the first header indicatingB destination) to a node D that does know how to reach node B. Ddecapsulates, uncovers the additional header, finds the first header,discerns that the packet is for B, and sends to B.

establish a link: activate a link i.e. cause a link to become active

hierarchical network: a communication network wherein at least onemobile communication device is served by a first base station, alsotermed herein a “relay”, which communicates with the core via a sequenceof L>=1 linked base stations including: (a) optionally, L−1 basestations connected to one another hence also termed herein “relays”, and(b) a second base station which is connected to the core.

radio interface: apparatus using radio technology to provide a link.

relay: see definition of “hierarchical network”

relay apparatus: synonymous to “relay”

rsSINR: reference signal's Signal to Interference-plus-Noise Ratio, aknown metric which may be computed e.g. as described in co-pendingpublished PCT Patent Application WO/2011/092698, entitled “CellularCommunication System With Moving Base Stations And Methods And ApparatusUseful In Conjunction Therewith”.

served by: connected via an active link

uplink: link from a mobile communication device toward the core i.e. alink in a sequence or route (also termed uplink sequence or up-route) ofone or more links connecting the device to the core.

The term “mobile computing device”, e.g. in FIG. 5, is used herein toinclude any mobile communication device being a node in a communicationnetwork such as a cellular communication network, such as but notlimited to a mobile telephone e.g. cellphone, smartphone, etc., as wellas any computer that has a wireless modem such as a laptop with a LTEmodem or a tablet having a wireless connection. It is appreciated thatwhile many mobile communication devices have computing ability, theembodiments shown and described herein are applicable also to mobilecommunication devices which lack computing ability.

Various terms and abbreviations herein e.g. in FIGS. 16 a-16 c and inFIG. 18 follow LTE terminology for simplicity. However, it isappreciated that the applicability of the invention shown and describedherein is not limited to LTE. For example, the methods and systems shownand described herein may be applicable to formats which are notidentical to LTE but have relevant features in common with LTE.

The term “relay” is used herein to refer to a mobile node in a cellularcommunication network whose node has both base station and mobilecommunicator functionalities and is operative to serve mobilecommunicators, such as cellular telephones, or other relays, and to beserved by base stations or other relays. Typically, each relaycommunicates via antennae with the mobile communicators and includes afirst radio manager, base station functionality which has a physicalback-connection to the first radio manager, the first radio managerhaving a physical connection with the relay's mobile communicatorfunctionality which in turn communicates via antennae with at least oneselectable (static) base station. Typically, the first radio managercomprises a radio resource manager and functionality for receivinginformation from, and sending information to, other radio managers,respectively co-located with other relays, and for using the informationto determine whether to reject at least one mobile communicator seekingto be served by an individual base station associated with theindividual co-located radio manager.

A particular problem characterizing mobile communication systems inwhich some mobile communicators communicate indirectly with the basestations, is thin-ness of the uplinks connecting the mobilecommunicators with the base stations. Certain embodiments of the presentinvention are helpful in overcoming this problem.

Mobile communication systems in which some mobile communicators arebeyond-range of, hence communicate indirectly with, the base stations,typically include a core associated with base stations, mobilecommunicators which may or may not be within range of the base stations,and communication relaying mobile stations which have some or all of thefunctionalities of both base stations and mobile communicators. Anexample of a mobile communication system in which some mobilecommunicators communicate indirectly with the base stations is describedin co-pending published PCT Patent Application WO/2011/092698, entitled“Cellular Communication System With Moving Base Stations And Methods AndApparatus Useful In Conjunction Therewith”.

When single-hop communication is used, a communication relaying mobilestation is within the range of a base station and has a mobilecommunicator within its own range. When multi-hop communication is used,a chain of n>=2 communication relaying mobile stations are provided, thefirst of which, 1, is within the range of a base station, the last ofwhich, n, has a mobile communicator within its own range, and eachadjacent pair I, i+1 of which, for I=1, . . . n−1, is characterized inthat the (i+1)'th communication relaying mobile station is within therange of the I'th communication relaying mobile station.

A hierarchical mobile system useful in conjunction with certainembodiments of the present invention is shown in U.S. Pat. Nos.5,729,826 and 5,657,317 and in co-pending Published PCT PatentApplication WO/2011/092698, entitled “Cellular Communication System WithMoving Base Stations And Methods And Apparatus Useful In ConjunctionTherewith”.

A particularly suitable hierarchical radio-link network, forimplementing certain embodiments of the invention shown and describedherein, is illustrated in FIG. 7.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,826 describes a 2-tier hierarchical cellularnetwork, where the RAs move with traffic and communicate with the corevia fixed radio ports. The RAs are provided with a high gain directionalantenna. An example of a suitable network of this type is illustrated inprior art FIGS. 4A-4B. A moving base station may have an RH added to theprocessor block.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,657,317 describes a 2-tier hierarchical LAN. The firsttier may comprise a hard wired LAN comprising radio base stations. Thesecond tier may include a variety of roaming computer devices such asvehicle terminals and computer terminals to peripheral devices that canbind to the mobile computing device and communicate with differentdevices on the LAN. An example of a suitable network of this type isillustrated in prior art FIGS. 4A-4B.

The above-mentioned co-pending Israel Patent Application No. 206455illustrates an n-tier hierarchical in-band multi-hop cellular networkusing SM as a backhauling device as illustrated in FIGS. 6 a-6 b. The RHmay be added to the relay radio/resource manager (rRM) block.

An N-tier hierarchical radio-link network, as depicted in FIG. 7, usesradio interface for backhauling, giving higher uplink BW capacity andbetter range cover.

A dynamic hierarchical cellular system, e.g. as in FIG. 7, typically hassome or all of the following capabilities which are typically notapplicable in a conventional cellular system:

a. Finding the route to SM through several hops. Due to the dynamics ofthe system, when a message is being routed from source to destination,there is uncertainty in the position of the destination when the messagearrives; moreover, there is uncertainty in the correctness of therouting route because several nodes along the route may change theirposition.

b. Traffic ‘bottlenecks’ occur at a certain point along the backhaulingroute. A typical cellular system does not consider bottlenecks along thebackhauling route. In a hierarchical cellular system, because oflimitations in the backhauling BW, bottlenecks might occur. For example,consider that several distant users are using an RA that is connected toanother RA that might be almost overloaded due to other distant users.The result of these bottlenecks is low utilization of the radio channelsand an unsatisfying user experience.

c. Using a dynamic hierarchical cellular system adds two variables tothe routing graph, number of hops and link quality. These two variableschange rapidly, due to the dynamics of the system, and affect theutilization of the system. Hops increase delay, and link quality affectsthe backhauling BW.

d. Service management through several hops. Different services havedifferent requirements; for example, services such as voice calls arenot tolerated to latency, but require little BW; services like webbrowsing are tolerated to latency but are high BW consumers. In order tobe able to support these kinds of services, different servicerequirements and their mutual effect on each other are taken intoaccount. In some cases, interfaces might interfere with each other, forexample when they share the same limited resource, such as uplink BW ona specific route. In such cases, the more important service request istypically given advantage.

e. Scheduling of the different services. Different services havedifferent characteristics. Some use a constant bit rate and are nottolerated to delays, such as voice calls, and others are tolerated todelays, but are very ‘greedy’ in their BW consumption, and work inbursts. Once the services have been established, a special scheduler,which resides in the RA, may schedule their requests according to theirservice requirements.

Architecture and methods are now described which may solve some or allof the problems shown and described herein and/or may cope withtransferring control and traffic information between each one of the MS,through any hierarchical cellular topology to any destination. Thedestination may for example be MS in the same network or any destinationoutside the network. Portions of the following description areapplicable to the 4G 3GPP cellular network, also known as LTE (Long TermEvolution); it is appreciated that this is merely by way of example andthe embodiments shown and described herein are suitable for a widevariety of cellular networks, mutatis mutandis.

Either or preferably both of the following may be added to thearchitecture of the hierarchical cellular network e.g. as shown at FIG.8:

A. Tunneling Subsystem inside each 4G mobile base station (MeNB) (Mobileevolved Node B) 108, 109, 110. The tunneling typically performsencapsulation and de-capsulation inside certain or each 4G mobile basestation (MeNB) located at lower layers of the hierarchic eUTRAN tree.

The tunneling subsystem typically resides behind the core network, wherein fact, typically, all services and application reside. The tunnelingsubsystem is typically operative only for removing an encapsulationheader or for adding all the headers (in case of a multi-hop) accordingto the route to the designated address.

B. Tunneling Server as part of the Core Segment 114.

The tunneling server may be located at any suitable location such as anyof the following locations in the standard cellular architecture:

A Tunneling Application Server can be located as a standard ApplicationServer 115 interfacing the Core segment 114, connecting to the core bythe SGi interface 119 e.g. as described below with reference to FIG. 10.One advantage of this alternative may be the central architecture of thetunneling management at the core (single entity). A disadvantage, incertain applications, is the longer latency e.g. relative to the nextalternative.

An S1 Tunneling Server can be located in a distributed way at the S1interface 118 between eNBs (some or all) and the Core Segment e.g. asdescribed below with reference to FIGS. 12 a-12 b. An advantage of thisalternative may be the shorter latency with respect to the nextalternative. A disadvantage, in certain applications, e.g. relative tothe previous alternative, is the distributed architecture of thetunneling management at the core which may employ a large number ofinterfaces to the eNBs.

It is appreciated that the S1 tunneling server may be similar to anapplication server but instead of residing behind the core, it typicallyresides between the 4G base station (eNB) and the core over the S1 or X2interface. When a message is going to a mobile base station, the S1tunneling server knows the different headers that are to be added andforwarded to the relevant anchoring stationary base station.

a combination of the two embodiments above may be provided, namely usingthe preferred alternative selected as a result of several parameterssuch as but not limited to user priority, service type, user type.

It is appreciated that link 116 in FIG. 8 may comprise a suitableconventional link capable of having sent over it, backhauling data fromthe 4G mobile base station (MeNB) to the core, such as but not limitedto LTE's “LTE-UU” interface.

FIG. 9 a presents a possible location and interface of the TunnelingSubsystem 206 inside an mobile base station (MBS) 203. As shown, thesubsystem 206 typically interfaces both the Base station 204 and theBackhauling Link Subsystem 208. Element 210 may comprise any suitablebase station, generally, or a mobile base station specifically.

FIG. 14 shows an example of a detailed implementation for the LTE 4Gmobile base station (MeNB) 703. Inside the 4G mobile base station (MeNB)703 the interface between the Tunneling Subsystem 706 and the 4G basestation (eNB) Subsystem 704 may be effected using the standard S1interface 705.

FIG. 9 b shows the internal processes inside a general mobile basestation (MBS) Tunneling Subsystem; as shown, the lefthand modulesprocess inbound information heading “up” (toward the core) and therighthand modules process outbound information heading “down” (away fromthe core). One possible LTE implementation is described below.

A suitable Inbound path, from the 4G (optionally) base station Subsystemto the Backhauling Link Subsystem, from 205 a to 207 a, is nowdescribed. The Inbound processing inside the Tunneling Subsystem 206typically begins, at 211 a, by temporarily collecting the data whicharrives from the Mobile Stations, analyzing it, including de-framing theS1 protocol into S1-U, S1-MME and X2, and sorting the results, forexample by user ID, type of data such as control or user plane, etc.Thereafter the sorted data may be queued according to suitable rulese.g. based on some or all of user priority, service type, type of data(control/user), etc. At 213 a, the data is then partitioned includingdeciding which of the data is to be transmitted in each of the followingsessions, e.g. (a) to send data of certain user together at the samepacket or (b) to send the high priority data first, or (c) to sendcontrol data first. Typically, the data is then encapsulated e.g. puttogether inside a single packet as a Payload, including the dataelements that are next in the queue, and sent on, e.g. to theBackhauling Link Subsystem 215 a. An encapsulated packet may includedata from one or more data sources (s). The source Identity (such as IPaddress) of the encapsulated packet sent by the Backhauling LinkSubsystem 208 to the upper layer in the network topology (i.e. at the209 interface) may include the Identity assigned to the mobile basestation (MBS) (such as its IP address).

The encapsulation/decapsulation processes at the mobile, 4G (e.g.) basestation (MBS e.g. MeNB) and at the Tunneling Server facilitates creationof a tunneled link between those entities. Multi-layered cellulartopology typically creates tunnel-within-tunnel encapsulation that maybe resolved and unfolded at the Tunneling Server. FIG. 11 is an exampleof multi-layered tunneling for the scenario of FIG. 8. It is appreciatedthat the encapsulation process is a method of adding information to datapayload (i.e. by adding header to a data payload packet), e.g. asdescribed in Wikipedia's entry on “information hiding”, in order to sendthe data payload over a different delivery-network.

The Outbound path from the Backhauling Link Subsystem to the 4G(optionally) base station Subsystem, from 207 b to 205 b typicallyincludes similar blocks, differently ordered. First collection of theincoming data is performed, followed by decapsulation, at element 215 b.Then analysis of the decapsulated packets is performed, followed bysorting and queuing of the analyzed results, at element 213 b. Thenconversion of the individual packets to the relevant protocol isperformed, at element 211 b; this may comprise S1 protocol framing inLTE for 205 b. The data is then sent to the 4G (optionally) base stationSubsystem 204.

The destination of all mobile base station (MBS) traffic is typicallythe Tunneling Server and vice-versa. FIG. 10 presents a possiblearchitecture for integrating the Tunneling Server at the Core 305—as aTunneling Application Server 307. One possible LTE implementation forthis architecture is described at FIG. 13.

The first interface of the Tunneling Application Server 307 to the CoreSegment 305 is by the standard Core-to-Application Server interface,known as SGi interface for LTE 306. Through this interface theencapsulated packets from/to all the mobile base station (MBS)s, e.g. 4Gmobile base stations (MeNBs), are received/sent. The first block atwhich these packets arrive is typically the Encapsulation Engine 308that decapsulates the packets which arrive at the Inbound andencapsulate the traffic sent over the Outbound. Typically, engine 08 isoperative for adding information to the data payload, e.g. by adding aheader to a data payload packet in order to send the data payload over adifferent delivery-network. Some varieties of conventional encapsulationare described, for example, in the Wikipedia entry on “informationhiding”.

The Tunneling Application Server also includes a Virtual RAN (RadioAccess Network) Manager 310 which is operative to reflect each one ofthe mobile, 4G (e.g.) base stations (MBSs e.g. MeNBs) back to the CoreSegment as “real” 4G (optionally) base station using the standardRAN-to-Core interface (S1 interface for LTE) 311. In addition to theencapsulated traffic, each mobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBS e.g.MeNB) periodically sends to the Tunneling Server the list of usersattached to it, e.g. inside its service area. Using all the dataarriving to it from all mobile base station (MBS)s, the Virtual RadioAccess Network Manager 310 is typically operative to build the topologyof all mobile base station (MBS)s sub-networks and the list of all usersattached to them.

The Virtual Radio Access Network Manager 310 also typically “reflects”each of the mobile, 4G (e.g.) base stations (MBSs e.g. MeNBs) to theCore segment 305 as a “virtual” 4G (optionally) base station using e.g.the standard S1 interface such that a multi-S1 interface is created at311. Therefore, the Virtual Radio Access Network Manager typicallyfunctions as a proxy of the MeNBs interfacing the core. Encapsulationengine 308 uses this information in order to arrange and encapsulate thepackets for the Outbound path, e.g. the path from the Tunneling Serverto the mobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBS e.g. MeNB).

The encapsulation/decapsulation processes at the mobile, 4G (e.g.) basestation (MBS e.g. MeNB) and at the Tunneling Server facilitates creationof a tunneled link between those entities. Multi-layered cellulartopology creates tunnel-within-tunnel encapsulation that is resolved andunfolded at the Tunneling Server. FIG. 11 is an example of multi-layeredtunneling for the scenario of FIG. 8.

FIG. 12 a illustrates another alternative for the Tunneling Serverintegration to the Core Segment 503 as S1 Tunneling Server 502. In thisembodiment, the S1 Tunneling Server 502 is located between the 4G(optionally) base station 501 and the Core Segment 503. It interfacesthe 4G (optionally) base station using the standards S1 interface 504.The interface to the Core Segment 505 may be effected by multi-S1interfaces, one per mobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBS e.g. MeNB) whosepackets arrive at this Tunneling Server. FIG. 12 b is a simplified blockdiagram of a S1 Tunneling Server 502 according to certain embodiments ofthe present invention. The first block in the Inbound flow may be themobile base station (MBS)s Filter 506 which sorts all the incominguser-plane packets (of S1-U interface). Typically, by using a known listof mobile, 4G (e.g.) base stations (MBSs e.g. MeNBs) the filter 506detects the mobile, 4G (e.g.) base stations' (MBSs' e.g. MeNBs')packets, filters them from the S1-U stream and sends the stream withoutthe mobile, 4G (e.g.) base stations' (MBSs' e.g. MeNBs') packetsdirectly to the Core segment e.g. using the standard Inbound S1-Uinterface 505 a and the stream of only mobile, 4G (e.g.) base stations(MBSs e.g. MeNBs) packets to the Tunneling Subsystem 508 using anyappropriate interface 507, e.g. the standard S1-U protocol interface.

The Tunneling Subsystem 508 may include the same elements as theTunneling Subsystem of the mobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBS e.g.MeNB) e.g. as described at FIG. 9 b. The Tunneling Subsystem thenprocesses the incoming mobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBS e.g. MeNB)only packets stream the same way as the 207 b to 205 b elements chain,typically for every sole mobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBS e.g. MeNB)detected, typically in a recursive manner in order to decapsulatetunnel-inside-tunnel cases e.g. multi-layer mobile, 4G (e.g.) basestations (MBSs e.g. MeNBs) topology. After unfolding all the mobile, 4G(e.g.) base stations' (MBSs' e.g. MeNBs') packets, the TunnelingSubsystem 508 transfers this data to the Virtual Radio Access NetworkManager 510 that reflects each of the mobile, 4G (e.g.) base stations(MBSs e.g. MeNBs) to the Core segment 503 as a “virtual” 4G (optionally)base station using e.g. the standard S1 interface such that multi-S1interface is created at 505 c which may have a similar role as theVirtual Radio Access Network Manager 310 shown at FIG. 10. Therefore,the Virtual Radio Access Network Manager typically functions as a proxyof the MeNBs interfacing the core.

Conversely, user-plane packets not directed to mobile, 4G (e.g.) basestation (MBS e.g. MeNB) may be sent via a standard S1-U interface 505 bdirectly to the mobile, 4G (e.g.) base stations (MBSs e.g. MeNBs)Combiner 512. The 51 interface typically resides over IP. Creation ofmultiple S1-interface may be effected e.g. by opening severalconnections. The Virtual Radio Access Network Manager, which may alsostore the mobile, 4G (e.g.) base stations' (MBSs' e.g. MeNBs') topologytree, typically passes these packets and their attached instructions,e.g. resulting from analysis of the topology tree, via a dedicatedinterface 509 to the Tunneling Subsystem 508.

Other packets that are addressed to mobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBSe.g. MeNB) are sent to the “virtual” 4G (optionally) base station whichmay form part of the Virtual Radio Access Network Manager 510. TheVirtual Radio Access Network Manager, which may also store the mobile,4G (e.g.) base stations' (MBSs' e.g. MeNBs') topology tree, passes thosepackets and their attached instructions, e.g. resulting from analysis ofthe topology tree, via a dedicated interface 509 to the TunnelingSubsystem 508.

Using these attached instructions, the Tunneling Subsystem 508 istypically operative to form the encapsulated packet such that everypacket addressed to MS/mobile communication device (UE) which isconnected to mobile, 4G (e.g.) base station (MBS e.g. MeNB) reaches itsdestination. The encapsulated packets are then typically passed to themobile, 4G (e.g.) base stations (MBSs e.g. MeNBs) Combiner 512 to becombined to the non-MBS-directed packets so a single S1-U Outboundinterface 504 b will be formed and sent to the relevant 4G (optionally)base station 501. The term “relevant” here refers to the 4G (optionally)base station that is the topology root to the tree where the mobile, 4G(e.g.) base station (MBS e.g. MeNB) is located.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of detailed implementation of theTunneling Application Server alternative configuration suitable for anLTE-based cellular network e.g. as shown in FIG. 10. The 4G base station(eNB) typically includes two standardized interfaces to the LTE Core:S1-U 603 and S1-MME 604. As previously described, all layer-1 4G mobilebase station (MeNB) user-plane traffic e.g. including the encapsulatedUEs (user equipment e.g. mobile communication device) and 4G mobile basestation (MeNB) s from layer-2 may be addressed to the TunnelingApplication Server 613, through the standard user-plane packet domaincore chain (e.g. 4G base station (eNB)601→S-GW 607→P-GW→TunnelingApplication Server).

When arriving to the Tunneling Application Server 613 this user-planetraffic may be decapsulated recursively at the Tunneling Engine 614 suchthat each tree underneath each 4G mobile base station (MeNB) is unfoldedand disassembled to separate clear, non-encapsulated packets. All thesepackets may be forwarded to the Virtual Radio Access Network Manager 616such that each 4G mobile base station (MeNB) is reflected as “virtual”4G base station (eNB) to the LTE Core Segment 602 using the standard LTEeUTRAN-to-Core S1 interfaces: S1-U 611 for the user-plane data andS1-MME 610 for the control plane data. These interfaces are typicallyidentical to the “real” 4G base station (eNB)601 interfaces: 604 vs. 610and 603 vs. 611. For Outbound sessions this process is mirroredaccordingly.

It is appreciated that FIG. 15 may form a basis for an LTEimplementation of an S1 Tunneling Server alternative.

FIGS. 16A-16C illustrate embodiments of the present invention includingan in-band backhauling embodiment of FIG. 16 a and a multi-hop variationthereof in FIG. 16 b. A network of Relays are provided. Using theterminology of co-pending Published PCT Patent ApplicationWO/2011/092698, entitled “Cellular Communication System With Moving BaseStations And Methods And Apparatus Useful In Conjunction Therewith”, theend unit of the relay, the rMS, transfers a message to the next relay,until the SMS, network base station, is reached, and similarly from thatnode to the core. These messages include, in addition to what the endunit of the relay (rMS) transmits, also information which is provided bythe relay base station (rBS). For example, if the base station of therelay serves 3 end units e.g. as shown, the end unit of the relay (rMS)transfers messages which relate to these three end units. This may betransferred as follows. The end unit of the relay (rMS) may generate apayload by multiplexing or encoding all messages under its IP address.This multiplexing may include the information pertaining to the threeend units which are connected to the relay radio/resource manager (rRM).In practice this multiplexing may be effected by the relayradio/resource manager (rRM) e.g. as per some or all of the followingsteps, suitably ordered e.g. as follows:

a. The relay radio/resource manager (rRM) communicates conventionallywith its own base station, also termed herein the rBS, and receives viathe S1 protocol, the data of the end unit as well as data of its basestation.

b. The relay radio/resource manager (rRM) multiplexes the data into asingle payload.

c. The relay radio/resource manager (rRM) transfers this to its rMSwhich broadcasts it to the next base station.

None of the units of a conventional network would know how to read thispayload. Therefore, an application server, e.g. as shown on the top leftof FIGS. 16A-16C, may be added to the core. The above relayradio/resource manager (rRM) payload is transferred to the applicationserver, by the network which is conventionally able to do so. Theapplication server knows how to “open” the end unit of the relay (rMS)message and convert it to standard S1 format. The server thus speaks tothe network's standard core, including the MME and S-GW, just as thebase station does.

The server is typically, insofar as the network “sees”, a base station.The network sees the Base Station (rBS) of the Relay and simulates alarge number of base stations (rBS). This reflects the Relays andwhoever is connected thereto, in a standard manner.

According to certain embodiments, the quality grade of each section maybe determined by two factors: the reference signal's Signal toInterference-plus-Noise Ratio (rsSINR), in conjunction with thestatistical behavior of the reference signal's Signal toInterference-plus-Noise Ratio (rsSINR), e.g. by changing its standarddeviation and average. Another factor may be as follows: If manychannels “flow into” a single section, its QGR (quality grade result)may be reduced, because even if its Signal to Interference-plus-NoiseRatio (SINR) is good and there are no deviations, i.e. its behavior isgood, if all pass through this section, the quality may be reduced andtherefore, its score is typically reduced.

The term QGR (quality grade result) is a known term described inco-pending Published PCT Patent Application WO/2011/092698, entitled“Cellular Communication System With Moving Base Stations And Methods AndApparatus Useful In Conjunction Therewith”

The terms in the table of FIG. 17 may be construed either in accordancewith any definition thereof appearing in the prior art literature or inaccordance with the specification, or as stipulated in the table.

Referring now to FIG. 18, a virtual base station server (vBServ), alsotermed herein a “tunnelling application server, may be added to, say, anLTE or other suitable cellular core network that emulates base stationsthat do not have direct connection to the LTE (say) core.

The virtual Base Station server can connect standard 4G base station(eNB) as well as non standard communication means like satellite, as avirtual base station to the LTE core network.

The Tunneling Application Server (vBServ) and Border Gateway or MediaGateway differ in that these entities do not imitate base stationstoward the LTE core network. The BGW is connected to the IMS entities,the CSCF and the PCRF. The MGW is connected to the MGCF. The TunnelingApplication Server (vBServ) is connected to the MME and the S-GW of theLTE core as a virtual eNB.

The present invention is intended to include a base station effectingany portion of any of the functionalities shown and described herein.

The present invention is also intended to include a handset effectingany portion of any of the functionalities shown and described herein.

It is appreciated that various embodiments of the invention e.g. asshown and described herein are useful in conjunction with a mobilecommunication network system operative in conjunction with a corenetwork including a core device and at least one static base station,the system comprising a plurality of base stations; and a population ofmobile stations communicating via antennae with the base stations; thebase stations including at least one moving base station whichcommunicates via antennae with the mobile stations and includes basestation functionality, a first radio manager and mobile stationfunctionality all co-located with the base station functionality, thebase station functionality having a physical back-connection to thefirst radio manager, the first radio manager having a physicalconnection with the mobile station functionality, the mobile stationfunctionality communicating via antennae with at least one selectablestatic base station, wherein the first radio manager comprises a radioresource manager; and functionality for receiving information from, andsending information to, other radio managers, respectively co-locatedwith other moving base stations, and for using the information todetermine whether to reject at least one mobile station seeking to beserved by an individual base station associated with the individualco-located radio manager.

It is appreciated that various embodiments of the invention e.g. asshown and described herein are suitable for multi-hop applications inwhich at least one relay is served by another relay rather than beingserved directly by a base station.

It is appreciated that various embodiments of the invention e.g. asshown and described herein are suitable for application to a widevariety of mobile communication technologies. For example:

3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE), is a standard in mobile networktechnology which provides the following features:

-   -   Peak download rates of 326.4 Mbit/s for 4×4 antennae, and 172.8        Mbit/s for 2×2 antennae (utilizing 20 MHz of spectrum). [8]    -   Peak upload rates of 86.4 Mbit/s for every 20 MHz of spectrum        using a single antenna. [8]    -   Five different terminal classes have been defined from a voice        centric class up to a high end terminal that supports the peak        data rates. All terminals will be able to process 20 MHz        bandwidth.    -   At least 200 active users in every 5 MHz cell. (Specifically,        200 active data clients)    -   Sub-5 ms latency for small IP packets    -   Increased spectrum flexibility, with supported spectrum slices        as small as 1.4 MHz and as large as 20 MHz (W-CDMA requires 5        MHz slices, leading to some problems with roll-outs of the        technology in countries where 5 MHz is a commonly allocated        amount of spectrum, and is frequently already in use with legacy        standards such as 2G GSM and cdmaOne.) Limiting sizes to 5 MHz        also limited the amount of bandwidth per handset.    -   In the 900 MHz frequency band to be used in rural areas,        supporting an optimal cell size of 5 km, 30 km sizes with        reasonable performance, and up to 100 km cell sizes supported        with acceptable performance. In city and urban areas, higher        frequency bands (such as 2.6 GHz in EU) are used to support high        speed mobile broadband. In this case, cell sizes may be 1 km or        even less.    -   Support for mobility. High performance mobile data is possible        at speeds of up to 350 km/h, or even up to 500 km/h, depending        on the frequency band used.    -   Co-existence with legacy standards (users can transparently        start a call or transfer data in an area using an LTE standard,        and, should coverage be unavailable, continue the operation        without any action on their part using GSM/GPRS or W-CDMA-based        UMTS or even 3GPP2 networks such as cdmaOne or CDMA2000).    -   Support for MBSFN (Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency        Network). This feature can deliver services such as Mobile TV        using the LTE infrastructure, and is a competitor for        DVB-H-based TV broadcast.

The features of E-UTRAN, the air interface of LTE, are:

-   -   Peak download rates up to 292 Mbit/s and upload rates up to 71        Mbit/s depending on the user equipment category.    -   Low data transfer latencies (sub-5 ms latency for small IP        packets in optimal conditions), lower latencies for handover and        connection setup time than with previous radio access        technologies.    -   Support for terminals moving at up to 350 km/h or 500 km/h        depending on the frequency band.    -   Support for both FDD and TDD duplexes as well as half-duplex FDD        with the same radio access technology    -   Support for all frequency bands currently used by IMT systems by        ITU-R.    -   Flexible bandwidth: 1.4 MHz, 3 MHz, 5 MHz 15 MHz and 20 MHz are        standardized.    -   Support for cell sizes from tens of metres radius (femto and        picocells) up to 100 km radius macrocells    -   Simplified architecture: The network side of EUTRAN is composed        only by the enodeBs    -   Support for inter-operation with other systems (e.g. GSM/EDGE,        UMTS, CDMA2000, WiMAX . . . )    -   Packet switched radio interface.    -   It is appreciated that various embodiments of the invention e.g.        as shown and described herein are suitable for application to        LTE and/or EUTRAN technology as well as to technologies        possessing some but not all of the above features.

LTE Advanced is a 4th generation standard (4G)[2] of radio technologiesdesigned to increase the capacity and speed of mobile telephonenetworks. Its features may include some or all of:

-   -   Relay Nodes    -   mobile communication device (UE) Dual TX antenna solutions for        SU-MIMO and diversity MIMO    -   Scalable system bandwidth exceeding 20 MHz, Potentially up to        100 MHz    -   Local area optimization of air interface    -   Nomadic/Local Area network and mobility solutions    -   Flexible Spectrum Usage    -   Cognitive radio    -   Automatic and autonomous network configuration and operation    -   Enhanced precoding and forward error correction    -   Interference management and suppression    -   Asymmetric bandwidth assignment for FDD    -   Hybrid OFDMA and SC-FDMA in uplink    -   UL/DL inter 4G base station (eNB) coordinated MIMO    -   It is appreciated that various embodiments of the invention e.g.        as shown and described herein are suitable for application to        LTE-Advanced technology as well as to technologies possessing        some but not all of the above features.

WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is atelecommunications protocol that provides fixed and fully mobileInternet access. Features include:

-   -   Adding support for mobility (soft and hard handover between base        stations). This is seen as one of the most important aspects of        802.16e-2005, and is the very basis of Mobile WiMAX.    -   Scaling of the Fast Fourier transform (FFT) to the channel        bandwidth in order to keep the carrier spacing constant across        different channel bandwidths (typically 1.25 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz        or 20 MHz). Constant carrier spacing results in a higher        spectrum efficiency in wide channels, and a cost reduction in        narrow channels. It is also known as Scalable OFDMA (SOFDMA).        Other bands not multiples of 1.25 MHz are defined in the        standard, but because the allowed FFT subcarrier numbers are        only 128, 512, 1024 and 2048, other frequency bands will not        have exactly the same carrier spacing, which might not be        optimal for implementations.    -   Advanced antenna diversity schemes, and hybrid automatic        repeat-request (HARQ)    -   Adaptive Antenna Systems (AAS) and MIMO technology    -   Denser sub-channelization, thereby improving indoor penetration    -   Introducing Turbo Coding and Low-Density Parity Check (LDPC)    -   Introducing downlink sub-channelization, allowing administrators        to trade coverage for capacity or vice versa    -   Adding an extra QoS class for VoIP applications.    -   It is appreciated that various embodiments of the invention e.g.        as shown and described herein are suitable for application to        WiMax technology as well as to technologies possessing some but        not all of the above features.    -   More generally, the methods and systems shown and described        herein as being applicable e.g. to certain protocols are also        applicable to protocols which are not identical to the mobile        communication protocols specifically mentioned herein but have        relevant features in common therewith.

Flowchart illustrations appearing herein are intended to describe stepsof an example method where, alternatively, a method may be substitutedwhich includes only some of the steps illustrated and/or a method inwhich the steps are differently ordered.

It is appreciated that terminology such as “mandatory”, “required”,“need” and “must” refer to implementation choices made within thecontext of a particular implementation or application describedherewithin for clarity and are not intended to be limiting since in analternative implantation, the same elements might be defined as notmandatory and not required or might even be eliminated altogether.

It is appreciated that software components of the present inventionincluding programs and data may, if desired, be implemented in ROM (readonly memory) form including CD-ROMs, EPROMs and EEPROMs, or may bestored in any other suitable computer-readable medium such as but notlimited to disks of various kinds, cards of various kinds and RAMs.Components described herein as software may, alternatively, beimplemented wholly or partly in hardware, if desired, using conventionaltechniques. Conversely, components described herein as hardware may,alternatively, be implemented wholly or partly in software, if desired,using conventional techniques.

Included in the scope of the present invention, inter alia, areelectromagnetic signals carrying computer-readable instructions forperforming any or all of the steps of any of the methods shown anddescribed herein, in any suitable order; machine-readable instructionsfor performing any or all of the steps of any of the methods shown anddescribed herein, in any suitable order; program storage devicesreadable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructionsexecutable by the machine to perform any or all of the steps of any ofthe methods shown and described herein, in any suitable order; acomputer program product comprising a computer useable medium havingcomputer readable program code, such as executable code, having embodiedtherein, and/or including computer readable program code for performing,any or all of the steps of any of the methods shown and describedherein, in any suitable order; any technical effects brought about byany or all of the steps of any of the methods shown and describedherein, when performed in any suitable order; any suitable apparatus ordevice or combination of such, programmed to perform, alone or incombination, any or all of the steps of any of the methods shown anddescribed herein, in any suitable order; electronic devices eachincluding a processor and a cooperating input device and/or outputdevice and operative to perform in software any steps shown anddescribed herein; information storage devices or physical records, suchas disks or hard drives, causing a computer or other device to beconfigured so as to carry out any or all of the steps of any of themethods shown and described herein, in any suitable order; a programpre-stored e.g. in memory or on an information network such as theInternet, before or after being downloaded, which embodies any or all ofthe steps of any of the methods shown and described herein, in anysuitable order, and the method of uploading or downloading such, and asystem including server/s and/or client/s for using such; and hardwarewhich performs any or all of the steps of any of the methods shown anddescribed herein, in any suitable order, either alone or in conjunctionwith software. Any computer-readable or machine-readable media describedherein is intended to include non-transitory computer- ormachine-readable media.

Any computations or other forms of analysis described herein may beperformed by a suitable computerized method. Any step described hereinmay be computer-implemented. The invention shown and described hereinmay include (a) using a computerized method to identify a solution toany of the problems or for any of the objectives described herein, thesolution optionally include at least one of a decision, an action, aproduct, a service or any other information described herein thatimpacts, in a positive manner, a problem or objectives described herein;and (b) outputting the solution.

Features of the present invention which are described in the context ofseparate embodiments may also be provided in combination in a singleembodiment. Conversely, features of the invention, including methodsteps, which are described for brevity in the context of a singleembodiment or in a certain order may be provided separately or in anysuitable subcombination or in a different order. “e.g.” is used hereinin the sense of a specific example which is not intended to be limiting.Devices, apparatus or systems shown coupled in any of the drawings mayin fact be integrated into a single platform in certain embodiments ormay be coupled via any appropriate wired or wireless coupling such asbut not limited to optical fiber, Ethernet, Wireless LAN, HomePNA, powerline communication, cell phone, PDA, Blackberry GPRS, Satelliteincluding GPS, or other mobile delivery. It is appreciated that in thedescription and drawings shown and described herein, functionalitiesdescribed or illustrated as systems and sub-units thereof can also beprovided as methods and steps therewithin, and functionalities describedor illustrated as methods and steps therewithin can also be provided assystems and sub-units thereof. The scale used to illustrate variouselements in the drawings is merely exemplary and/or appropriate forclarity of presentation and is not intended to be limiting.

1. A hierarchical cellular network system having a core and comprising:a plurality of nodes, wherein at least one node comprises a mobile relayhaving both base station and mobile communicator functionalities andoperative to serve mobile communicators, including other relays, and tobe served inter alia by other relays; and wherein at least one relayincludes: a tunneling sub-system; and a backhauling link subsysteminterfacing between the tunneling subsystem and a node which is closerto the core than said relay; said base station functionality interfacingbetween the tunneling subsystem and a mobile station or a node which isfurther from the core than said relay, wherein the tunneling subsystemis operative to perform the following, on data arriving from a basestation functionality; collecting said data; and encapsulating theresults to be sent in an individual session into packets and sendingsaid packets to said Backhauling Link Subsystem.
 2. A system accordingto claim 1 wherein said backhauling link subsystem comprises a radiolink that connects a mobile to another base station.
 3. (canceled)
 4. Asystem according to claim 1 wherein a source Identity of at least one ofsaid packets is sent by the Backhauling Link Subsystem to an upper layerof the network topology, so as to identify at least one source relay inthe network from which at least one of said packets originated. 5.(canceled)
 6. A system according to claim 1 wherein the tunnelingsubsystem is operative to perform the following, on incoming dataarriving via said Backhauling Link Subsystem from another node:collection of the incoming data; de-capsulation of the incoming data ascollected, thereby to yield decapsulated packets; analysis of thede-capsulated packets, including assigning a priority to each, therebyto yield analyzed results; sorting and queuing of the analyzed results,thereby to yield individual packets; conversion of the individualpackets to a protocol specific to the network, thereby to yieldnetwork-compatible packets; and sending said network-compatible packetsto another node via the relay apparatus.
 7. A system according to claim2 wherein said data is formatted as per an S1 protocol including S1protocol framing in LTE.
 8. A system according to claim 2 wherein saidradio link connects a mobile relay to another mobile relay.
 9. A systemaccording to claim 2 wherein said radio link connects a mobile relay toa stationary base station.
 10. (canceled)
 11. A system according toclaim 1 wherein said encapsulating includes incorporating said resultsinto said packets as a Payload.
 12. A system according to claim 7 andwherein said tunneling subsystem is also operative for de-framing the S1protocol yielding a plurality of results. 13-18. (canceled)
 19. A methodfor operating in a hierarchical cellular network system having a coreand a plurality of nodes, wherein at least one node comprises a relay,the method comprising: providing, in at least one node which comprises amobile relay having both base station and mobile communicatorfunctionalities and operative to serve mobile communicators, includingother relays, and to be served inter alia by other relays: a tunnelingsub-system; and a backhauling link subsystem interfacing between thetunneling subsystem and a node which is closer to the core than saidrelay; said base station functionality, interfacing between thetunneling subsystem and a mobile station or a node which is further fromthe core than said relay, using the tunneling subsystem to perform thefollowing, on data arriving from a base station functionality:collecting said data; and encapsulating the results to be sent in anindividual session into packets and sending said packets to saidBackhauling Link Subsystem. 20-28. (canceled)
 29. A method according toclaim 19 wherein multi-hop communication is used by providing a chain ofn>=2 communication relaying mobile stations, the first of which, 1, iswithin the range of a base station, the last of which, n, has a mobilecommunicator within its own range, and each adjacent pair I, i+1 ofwhich, for I=1, . . . n−1, is characterized in that the (1+1)'thcommunication relaying mobile station is within the range of the I'thcommunication relaying base station.
 30. A method according to claim 19wherein Multi-layered cellular topology creates tunnel-within-tunnelencapsulation that is resolved and unfolded at a Tunneling Server in thecore.
 31. (canceled)
 32. A method according to claim 19 wherein thetunneling subsystem is operative only for removing an encapsulationheader or for adding all the headers, in case of a multi-hop, accordingto the route to the designated address.
 33. A system according to claim1 wherein the core comprises a tunneling application server. 34-35.(canceled)
 36. A method according to claim 12 wherein S1 protocol isdeframed into S1-U, S1-MME and X2, thereby to generate deframingresults. 37-41. (canceled)
 42. A method according to claim 19 wherein atunnel incorporates several cellular entities together.
 43. A systemaccording to claim 1 wherein the core comprises a tunneling server andwherein the destination of all mobile base station (MBS) traffic istypically the Tunneling Server and vice-versa.
 44. (canceled)
 45. Asystem according to claim 33 wherein a first block at which thesepackets arrive is an Encapsulation Engine operative to decapsulatepackets which arrive Inbound and to encapsulate traffic sent Outbound.46. A system according to claim 45 wherein the engine is operative foradding information to the data payload, by adding a header to a datapayload packet in order to send the data payload over a differentdelivery-network. 47-53. (canceled)
 54. A system according to claim 1wherein the core comprises an S1 tunneling server and wherein the S1Tunneling Server is located between a base station and a Core Segmentdefined by the core and interfaces the base station using a standard S1interface and wherein the interface of an individual Tunneling Server tothe Core Segment is effected by multi-S1 interfaces, one for each mobilebase station whose packets arrive at said individual Tunneling Server.55. (canceled)
 56. A system according to claim 1 wherein the corecomprises an S1 tunneling server and wherein a first block in an Inboundflow comprises a mobile base station filter operative to sort incominguser-plane packets of an S1-U interface and wherein the filter, by usinga known list of mobile base stations, is operative to detect the mobilebase stations' packets, to filter said packets from the S1-U stream andto send the stream without the mobile base stations' packets directly toa Core segment defined by the core.
 57. (canceled)
 58. A systemaccording to claim 1 wherein the Tunneling Subsystem is operative toprocess incoming mobile base station only packets stream for every solemobile base station detected, in a recursive manner in order todecapsulate tunnel-inside-tunnel cases.
 59. A system according to claim58 wherein, after unfolding all the mobile base stations' packets,thereby to generate unfolded data the Tunneling Subsystem is operativeto transfer said unfolded data to a Virtual Radio Access Network Managerthat reflects each of the mobile base stations to a Core segment definedby the core as a “virtual” base station. 60-62. (canceled)
 63. For usewith a hierarchical cellular network system having a core and comprisinga plurality of nodes, wherein at least one node comprises a mobile relayhaving both base station and mobile communicator functionalities andoperative to serve mobile communicators, including other relays, and tobe served inter alia by other relays: a Virtual Radio Access NetworkManager which resides in a tunneling application server residing in thecore, and which is operative to reflect each mobile base station back toa Core Segment defined by the core as a “real” base station using astandard RAN-to-Core interface.
 64. A system according to claim 63wherein the Virtual Radio Access Network Manager is operative, usingdata arriving thereat from all mobile base stations, to build a topologyof all mobile base station sub-networks including a list of all usersattached thereto.
 65. (canceled)
 66. A system according to claim 63wherein the Virtual Radio Access Network Manager is operative tofunction as a proxy of MeNBs interfacing the core by reflecting each ofthe mobile base stations using a standard S1 interface such that amulti-S1 interface is created.
 67. A system according to claim 63wherein the Virtual Radio Access Network Manager is also operative tostore the mobile base stations' topology tree, and to pass packets andattached instructions, resulting from analysis of the topology tree, viaa dedicated interface to the Tunneling Subsystem.
 68. A system accordingto claim 1 wherein the base station functionality from which said dataarrives comprises at least one of: a base station functionalitybelonging to another node from among said plurality of nodes; and saidbase station functionality belonging to said at least one relay.